Newbie at musket shooting needs advice..

[smokem]

Hey all;
I just traded a fellow club member for a rather complet musket and supplies.
The musket is an 1853 Enfield musketoon, with FFG and some FFFG powder, a jar of Triple7 and a jar of American pioneer . There are several hundred old style .575"miniballs , some .577 " miniballs, plentiful RWS caps, etc..
I am used to casting for cartrige shooting, but want to know how loose the miniball should be. The .575" seem to be loose in the barrel; the .577 less so.
I know the skirt on the mini is going to expand...will it be enough using the .575" balls vs the .577 balls?
Next is question of ffg vs. fffg. most of the powder is GOEX; one pound of elephant, also. I have heard Elephant is inferior to Goex.
What is your opinion?
I will start shooting .577 lubricated miniballs, then try the .575 minies.
I will be shooting the muskey with weighed carge of 60 grains of both ffg and fffg this weekend. I will start at 25 yds, then 50 yards. My goal is accurate 100 shooting. Is tis a good plan? What kind of accuracy should I expect?
Thanks in advance for all your advice!
Regards;
smokem

[44man]

Hey all;
I just traded a fellow club member for a rather complet musket and supplies.
The musket is an 1853 Enfield musketoon, with FFG and some FFFG powder, a jar of Triple7 and a jar of American pioneer . There are several hundred old style .575"miniballs , some .577 " miniballs, plentiful RWS caps, etc..
I am used to casting for cartrige shooting, but want to know how loose the miniball should be. The .575" seem to be loose in the barrel; the .577 less so.
I know the skirt on the mini is going to expand...will it be enough using the .575" balls vs the .577 balls?
Next is question of ffg vs. fffg. most of the powder is GOEX; one pound of elephant, also. I have heard Elephant is inferior to Goex.
What is your opinion?
I will start shooting .577 lubricated miniballs, then try the .575 minies.
I will be shooting the muskey with weighed carge of 60 grains of both ffg and fffg this weekend. I will start at 25 yds, then 50 yards. My goal is accurate 100 shooting. Is tis a good plan? What kind of accuracy should I expect?
Thanks in advance for all your advice!
Regards;
smokem
They don't work quite well with loose fitting Minie' balls. All my friends had them and many could not stay on a 5' target at 50 yards. The best accuracy is with a hard thumb push to start one. I lapped out many a mold for a tight fit and then we could hit the 200 meter gong.
Use a just damp patch between shots.
Skirt thickness is important for the powder and charge. I would stay with FFG, start with 50 gr and work to 60. If the skirt is thin, it will flare like a badminton shuttle cock at the muzzle if you load too heavy.
Good fit has turned many a dog into a super accurate shooter.

[bob208]

the mini should need a push to get her started. not much just a thumb push. i lube mine with chrisco. a little bit in the base will help it blow out into the groves better. also it lubes the bore for the next round. that way you don't have to wipe the bore each shot.

60gr of 2f was the service charge. i would start with 50 see how it does. then try the 3f with 50. if it shoots good with 50 you save 10 gr. per shot so every 6th shot is free. don't worry a mini with 50 gr. will kill a deer just as dead as a 60 gr. charge.

check you nipple it should have a very small hole at the bottom like a hotshot nipple. it not the hammer blow back to half or full cock. that is hard on the lock.

i like the rws musket caps. leave the cci on the shelf.

now if you really want to make it shoot. glass bed the lock and the tang along with the 3" at the breach. when you have the tang screw drawed up for glass bedding witness mark it so you don't over tighten it. then free up the wood under the barrel bands. you will more then likely need a taller front sight.